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Tesla’s biggest rival in China: an in-depth look at the $4,200 Wuling HongGuang Mini EV
Tesla’s biggest rival in China is the Wuling HongGuang Mini EV that starts at around $4,200. Information regarding this small but impressive electric car that is a part of an SAIC, General Motors, and Wuling joint venture is vague and usually hard to come by. However, a recent video revealed several new details about the one car that has managed to outsell Tesla for the past five months.
The HongGuang Mini EV: A Quick Introduction
First delivered in July 2020, the Wuling HongGuan Mini EV is manufactured in Lizhou, Guangxi, China, and is available in two variants: one equips a 9.2 kWh battery and the other a 13.8 kWh battery. Capable of a 62 MPH top speed and only around 75 and 110 miles of range per charge, the vehicle’s base model is available for a respectable $4,200. However, a top price of around $5,600 will give you a fully-loaded version of the car complete with air conditioning and power windows, two features that are available in most cars as a standard option. This car, however, is far from standard and is an economical EV made for short trips, tight finances, and efficiency. It’s no Tesla, but it did secure over 119,250 total sales in 2020 alone, making it the second best-selling EV in the Chinese market, trailing the Tesla Model 3.
2021 has proven to be a different story, at least so far. The HongGuang Mini EV has commanded the Chinese electric vehicle sector in 2021, selling just shy of 57,000 units through February and holding a commanding lead over the second-place Model 3, which has accumulated 27,531 total sales so far this year. The affordability of the HongGuang Mini EV is proving to be a disruptor. Although it doesn’t pack the punch or performance of the Model 3, people continue to purchase the car because of its impressive price tag.
Production of the HongGuang Mini EV
As previously mentioned, the Mini EV is produced in Lizhou, Guangxi, at a small but extremely efficient facility. A new car rolls off the line every minute, and the vehicle only takes 4 hours to produce from start to finish, according to YouTuber Gwelio 60, who recently toured the factory to have an inside look at the car.
An assembly line worker at the Wuling plant. He is putting the finishing touches on the HongGuang Mini EV here. (Credit: YouTube | Gweilo 60)
There are not many parts to the car, and it is a relatively simple machine. The battery and some other basic parts that make up a car are really the only things that go under the body and chassis itself. Anything that could be considered a “luxury” is not included in the vehicle’s most basic models. It is really a car to get from point A to point B with as few issues or bells and whistles as possible.
(Credit: YouTube | Gweilo 60)
The vehicle itself is an employee at the plant. In fact, several of them are. Wuling has several HongGuang Mini EVs that haul materials, parts, and other things across the campus of the production facility completely autonomously. The cars operate under their own guidance and can sense when to stop and when to accelerate back onto their path. Gweilo 60 showed an example of how safe they are in the video by crossing the street while a HongGuang Mini EV approached. The car successfully stopped, waited for Gweilo to cross the street, and began navigating once again.
The Interior: Simple, small, and smooth
The bells and whistles are not present in this vehicle. A small dash screen and a simple radio, along with HVAC ventilation, make up the entirety of the dashboard. It is comfortable, small, sleek, and smooth, and it is just enough to keep someone comfortable during their short drive. It isn’t much, but with the low range, it’s not like someone needs excessive entertainment or features. You get what you pay for.
(Credit: YouTube | Gweilo 60)
The ride is smooth, zippy, and comfortable, according to the short review from Gweilo. It won’t go over 62 MPH, but it’s another gas car off the road, something that is always a positive. It has good suspension, it handles well, and it is a comfortable ride for any occupants, he says.
The Bottom Line: Is the Wuling HongGuang Mini EV a real “threat” to Tesla?
No, it probably isn’t a threat to Tesla because Tesla’s cars and the Wuling HongGuang Mini EV simply are not in the same realm. Comparing the car to the Model 3 is like comparing the Model 3 to the Rivian R1T: prices, purpose, and functionality are all different, and they are two cars that shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence. Many Tesla enthusiasts have called the Mini EV a “golf cart” because of its size and price point, and really that isn’t far off. However, the Mini EV is undoubtedly a popular vehicle, and the sales figures show that. Is it a legitimate threat to Tesla? Probably not. At least, it doesn’t seem that way. They’re just not comparable.
Tesla to sell zero cars in China by 2030, Morgan Stanley’s Jonas says
That isn’t to say that what Wuling has accomplished with this small but mighty EV isn’t impressive. The sales figures alone are incredible, and it is certainly a great indication that China is ready to buy EVs. However, it would be interesting to see if the Wuling-GM-SAIC partnership would be willing or would plan for a more competitive, luxurious, and expensive EV that would drive competition to the max in the Chinese market. China is becoming a hotbed for EVs, and the Wuling HongGuang Mini EV is driving EV sales through the roof.
Watch Gweilo 60’s full video regarding the Wuling HongGuang Mini EV below.
SpaceX confirmed today that it has officially signed its third massive compute deal, providing compute at its Colossus data center in Southaven, Tennessee.
Reflection AI will gain immediate access to NVIDIA GB300 chips at SpaceX’s Colossus 2 data center. In return, Reflection will pay SpaceX $150 million per month starting on July 1, with total payments reaching approximately $6.3 billion if the contract runs through its duration, which is until 2029. Either party can terminate the agreement with 90 days’ notice after the initial three-month period.
CNBC first reported the deal.
🚨 SpaceXAI has agreed to a new compute deal with Reflection AI.
Reflection gets access to NIVIDIA GB300s, and will pay $150M per month to SpaceXAI for the compute. pic.twitter.com/bNPare8U5u
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 22, 2026
This latest partnership highlights SpaceX’s strategy of commercializing its massive Colossus supercomputing infrastructure, originally developed to power Elon Musk’s Grok AI models. The company has rapidly expanded its customer base in the AI sector following its February 2026 merger with xAI, a transaction that valued the combined entity at $1.25 trillion.
SpaceX has previously signed significant compute deals with other major players.
It granted Anthropic exclusive access to the full capacity of its Colossus 1 data center, which exceeds 300 megawatts and includes over 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs. Details from SpaceX’s IPO filings indicate Anthropic will pay $1.25 billion per month through May 2029, potentially generating around $45 billion over the term of the deal.
Additionally, Google agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million per month for compute capacity from October 2026 through June 2029. This 32-month period will provide Google access to roughly 110,000 NVIDIA GPUs, along with supporting processors and memory. Capacity ramps up through September at a reduced fee, with termination options after the first year.
SpaceXA also established arrangements for computing power with Cursor, an AI coding startup. SpaceX acquired them in a $60 billion all-stock deal.
These arrangements position SpaceX’s collective position as an AI infrastructure powerhouse with high-margin revenue potential. The Google deal alone could generate nearly $29.5 billion over its term, while the Reflection contract adds another $6.3 billion.
Combined with the Anthropic arrangement, SpaceX stands to realize tens of billions in revenue from compute leasing in the coming years, which diversifies beyond SpaceX’s traditional rocket launches and Starlink operation.
The deals underscore growing demand for advanced AI training and inference capacity amid chip shortages and surging model development needs. Reflection, valued at $25 billion and focused on “American open intelligence” with government and national security ties, cited recent restrictions on closed models as validation for open-source approaches.
For SpaceX, the partnerships transform capital-intensive data centers into flexible revenue sources while supporting its broader AI ambitions after the company has gone public.
It is safe to say SpaceX won’t be going for electric rockets anytime soon.
In a characteristically blunt reply on X, SpaceX frontman Elon Musk stated, “Unfortunately, electric rockets are impossible,” following reports that MSCI had assigned SpaceX its lowest possible ESG rating of CCC.
The assessment, issued just this past week, coinciding closely with SpaceX’s public market debut, placed the company on par with nations like Russia in sustainability scoring and cited significant risks in environmental, social, and governance areas.
MSCI flagged SpaceX’s exposure to rocket emissions and other operational impacts, alongside governance concerns such as concentrated control by Musk and limited shareholder protections. Musk’s terse comment directly addressed the environmental pillar, underscoring a core physical constraint that ESG frameworks often overlook when evaluating high-thrust industries.
Unfortunately, electric rockets are impossible
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2026
Electric propulsion systems do exist and are widely used in space. Ion thrusters and Hall-effect thrusters accelerate ionized propellant, typically xenon or krypton, using electric fields, achieving very high specific impulse, often exceeding 3,000 seconds compared to roughly 300–450 seconds for chemical rockets.
This efficiency makes them ideal for satellite station-keeping, orbit raising, and deep-space missions where low thrust over long durations is sufficient. SpaceX’s own Starlink satellites employ electric propulsion for these purposes.
However, launching from Earth’s surface demands something entirely different: enormous thrust delivered rapidly to overcome gravity and atmospheric drag. A typical orbital-class booster must generate thrust far exceeding its weight, often in the millions of Newtons within seconds.
Chemical rockets achieve this through exothermic combustion of dense propellants, producing high-mass-flow, high-velocity exhaust. Electric systems, by contrast, expel very small amounts of mass at extremely high speeds. Generating equivalent thrust would require impractical onboard power levels, massive energy storage or generation systems, and prohibitive added mass, rendering the approach infeasible with current or near-term technology.
Musk has previously expressed a similar sentiment, noting a desire for electric orbital rockets while acknowledging the inescapable requirements of Newton’s third law and energy delivery. The distinction is clear: electric propulsion excels once a vehicle is already in space; it cannot replace the high-thrust chemical phase required to reach orbit from the ground.
The episode illustrates broader critiques of ESG ratings. Proponents argue they incentivize better risk management and long-term sustainability. Detractors, including Musk—who has previously called ESG a “scam”—contend that such metrics can penalize essential activities when no practical alternative exists, potentially discouraging innovation in sectors like space access.
Elon Musk dubs the S&P 500 ESG as “outrageous scam” after Tesla gets booted from index
SpaceX has sought to mitigate launch-related impacts through reusability: Falcon 9 boosters have flown more than 30 times in some cases, dramatically lowering the manufacturing and emissions burden per kilogram delivered to orbit. Starship’s design further emphasizes rapid reusability and methane propellant, which can theoretically be produced via sustainable pathways.
Ultimately, Musk’s remark serves as a reminder that certain engineering realities persist regardless of scoring systems. As humanity expands its presence in space for communications, science, and exploration, balancing genuine environmental progress with technological necessity remains a central challenge.
ESG frameworks may evolve, but the fundamental limits of electric launch propulsion are unlikely to change soon.
Tesla just trademarked ‘MEGAPOD’ with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), its latest move in what seems to be a hint that the company is incredibly focused on its AI efforts and storage needs as compute increases.
The application carries serial number 99893717 and lists the applicant as Tesla, Inc., located at 1 Tesla Road, Austin, Texas 78725.
The filing remains in ‘live pending’ status, and it is a new application waiting for assignment to an examining attorney. It has not yet been published or registered.
Tesla just trademarked MEGAPOD
Summary:
“Modular data center hardware systems for artificial intelligence computing, comprised of computer servers, computer hardware for artificial intelligence processing, computer networking hardware, electrical power distribution units, and… pic.twitter.com/3l85DsKadl— Robin (@xdNiBoR) June 19, 2026
According to the official goods and services description in the application, Tesla describes ‘MEGAPOD’ as:
“Modular data center hardware systems for artificial intelligence computing, comprised of computer servers, computer hardware for artificial intelligence processing, computer networking hardware, electrical power distribution units, and cooling systems, sold as a unit; self-contained modular computing hardware systems for artificial intelligence workloads; integrated computer hardware platforms for artificial intelligence computing, namely, enclosures containing computer hardware, power distribution hardware, and cooling hardware, sold as a unit; downloadable software for monitoring, managing, optimizing, and regulating modular artificial intelligence computing hardware systems.”
This description specifies complete, self-contained modular units that integrate servers and specialized AI processing hardware with networking components, power distribution, and cooling systems. It also includes associated downloadable software for oversight and optimization of these systems. The language emphasizes hardware sold “as a unit” and enclosures that combine the necessary elements for AI computing workloads.
Tesla has an established history of developing and commercializing modular hardware systems. Its Megapack product line, for example, consists of utility-scale battery energy storage systems designed as containerized units for grid applications. The MEGAPOD filing follows a similar pattern of protecting a name for modular, integrated hardware platforms, this time focused on artificial intelligence computing infrastructure.
This could be an early move, especially as Tesla did not have trademark rights to the word ‘Cybercab,’ the name of its self-driving, ride-hailing-focused vehicle.
Trademark applications of this type allow companies to secure priority rights to a name for defined categories of goods and services. The USPTO examines applications for compliance with legal requirements, including distinctiveness and absence of conflicts with prior marks. If the application proceeds successfully through examination, publication, and any opposition period, it could result in a federal trademark registration providing nationwide protection. This is what Tesla’s obvious intention is with ‘MEGAPOD.’
Public reports and analysis suggest MEGAPOD could represent modular, container-style AI computing pods designed for easy deployment. These would bundle servers, AI accelerators, power systems, and cooling into self-contained units suitable for distributed AI workloads. This approach aligns with Tesla’s announced AI compute strategy.
In March 2026, Elon Musk outlined plans for “Digital Optimus” (also referred to as Macrohard), a joint Tesla-xAI project for AI agents capable of handling complex digital tasks. The plans include running these agents on Tesla’s AI4 hardware in parked vehicles as well as dedicated compute units installed at Supercharger stations, which collectively offer substantial unused electrical capacity.
What is Digital Optimus? The new Tesla and xAI project explained
A modular hardware platform like the one described in the ‘MEGAPOD’ filing would support scalable, rapid deployment of such distributed compute resources. It could complement Tesla’s other AI infrastructure efforts, including the Dojo supercomputer used for training models and the development of AI systems for autonomous driving and robotics, by enabling edge or regional AI inference without reliance on traditional centralized data centers.
SpaceX confirms third massive compute deal at Colossus data center
Elon Musk responds to SpaceX’s ESG rating and says its rockets won’t go electric
